1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fishing jigs and more particularly pertains to a new fishing jig with an interchangeable jig head for permitting a variety of jig heads with different configurations and functions to be used with a single jig hook while avoiding having to remove the jig hook from a fishing line to reconfigure the fishing jig.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The purpose of a fishing jig is to stimulate or attract fish to bite the jig hook instead of competing natural prey. Jig head color, shape, size, buoyancy and weight contribute to that purpose by imitating or emphasizing attached live or artificial bait. In addition, various modifications such as skirts, rattlers, weed guards, stinger hooks, flashers, spoons and other items improve attractiveness or performance. Jigs can also be tipped with various minnows, leaches, worms, grubs and other salt or fresh water live or natural baits.
Each fishing outing is unique and all combinations of the above variables can affect whether or not fish will bite. For example, a fish population that aggressively hits a black ¼ ounce jig tipped with a leach on Tuesday might ignore that offering and lightly tap a red ⅛ ounce skirted jig on Thursday. Changing fish appetites and levels of aggression can be attributed to altered environmental conditions such as barometric pressure, light, wind, moon phase, seasons and other variables. Localized influences, such as water clarity, water temperature, salinity, acidity, depth, natural prey availability, population density and other variables, also affect each fish population's affinity for various jig combinations.
All of these factors will change over a year, many within thirty minutes. Predicting the response of fish to these changes is difficult and most, if not all, fishermen resort to trial and error to determine which jig combination is effective for that particular outing. Because fishermen endeavor to catch fish (and often to release them again), their ability to stay in sync with the preferences of their prey will dictate the degree of their success.
It is thus desirable to have a quick and efficient means to create combinations of these variables while employing a minimum amount of fishing equipment.
Known fishing jigs have been composed of a jig head of various materials, such as a colored metal material (for example, lead) or a buoyant material (such as expanded polystyrene), and various shapes and weights, molded directly and inseparably to a jig hook. Various modifications can include: barbed collars molded as part of the lead-metal jig heads to permit attachment of imitation baits or to provide an anchor for permanently attached skirts; weed guards and eyelets (for attachment of a stinger hook, flasher or spoon) permanently molded into lead jig heads; and recesses permanently molded into the jig head to accommodate rattlers. Thus, in the prior art, each jig has a permanent color, shape, size, buoyancy, and weight.
Jigs are tied directly to fishing line using a knot that is intended not to come untied. (Jig fishing methods, with an exception for floating jigs, do not employ sinkers, leaders, snaps, bobbers or other line gear.) Because the known jigs have a permanent color, shape, size, buoyancy and weight, in order to try different combinations of color, shape, buoyancy and weight in the jig used, a fisherman has to change the entire jig tied to the fishing line. A similar lack of options exists for skirts, rattlers, weed guards, stinger hooks, flashers, spoons and other jig modifications—in order to change between these modifications, the entire jig needs to be changed and/or the bait removed from the hook of the jig.
Changing between jigs requires cutting the fishing line, removing the live or artificial bait from the old jig, possibly cleaning paint out of the eyelet of a new jig, threading the eyelet of the new jig, re-tying the line to the new jig and reattaching the old live or artificial bait. When the live bait is damaged from the removal process, or from environmental factors such as sunlight or dry air, new bait may need to be retrieved and attached. All of these steps take time that could otherwise be spent actually fishing.
Fishermen catch fish more fish if their hook is in the water and the jig is the correct jig for the current conditions. The prior art jigs have either compelled fishermen not to seek more effective jig combinations, or have greatly reduced the amount of time fishermen have had their hooks in the water. Under either scenario, the prior art jigs have deprived sport fishermen of enjoyment and reduced the profits of commercial fishermen.
In these respects, the fishing jig with interchangeable jig head according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art.